The present invention relates to managing movement of files between data storages. For an enterprises, files may need to be moved between data storages for various purposes, such as cost saving and data security.
In general, an enterprise may employ one or more data storages for storing enterprise data. The one or more data storages may include a high-performance storage that may have a substantial amount of capacity and may be able to support many users (e.g., up to 6,000 users). The high-performance storage may generally be expensive.
Typically, a substantial percentage (e.g., up to 40%) of enterprise data may be infrequently utilized. Therefore, employing a relatively low-cost (and low-performance) secondary data storage for storing infrequently utilized files, while employing a high-performance primary storage (with reduced storage capacity) for servicing users, may result in significant cost savings for an enterprise. Accordingly, files may need to be moved between the primary storage and the second storage.
In addition to cost saving, an enterprise may also wish to employ a secondary storage for security control. For example, the enterprise may wish to store confidential files in the secondary storage and to control access to the confidential files stored in the secondary storage. The confidential files may need to be recalled from the secondary storage to the primary storage when access to the confidential files is needed.
Existing techniques for managing movement of files between data storages are typically based on file metadata. For example, a prior art file manager (e.g., a server node including software and hardware) may examine the metadata of a file to determine the last date that the file was accessed. If the date indicates that the file has not been accessed for more than a specified period of time, e.g., 1 year, the prior art file manager may move (or migrate) the file from the primary storage to the secondary storage. Upon request by a user for accessing a file that has been moved from the primary storage to the secondary storage, the file manager may recall the file from the secondary to the primary storage, such that the file may be accessed.
Managing file movement based on metadata, the existing techniques may not be able to satisfy the needs for security control. For example, since metadata may not contain sufficient information for characterizing the content of files, the prior art file manager may not be able to effectively identify confidential files to be moved to the secondary storage. Further, the prior art file manager may not be able to effectively determine confidentiality levels of files stored in the secondary storage, and therefore may not be able to effectively control access to the files in a secure manner.